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Black women and weight loss is something of a literary two-headed monster, but with Jennifer Hudson, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey promoting weight loss products between football games and prime-time television sitcoms, the subject is not only becoming less contentious, but it is also reviving black actresses’ careers, The Daily Beast reports.

Hudson is the most well-known for her dramatic weight loss and endorsement of Weight Watchers. The Daily Beast reports that the former “American Idol” star’s very public victory over her weight improved her health, while keeping her in the public eye amid the dearth of acting roles for African-American women:

By signing on as a weight-loss spokeswoman, Hudson may have shed 80 pounds, but with eye-catching commercials showcasing her newly svelte figure and incredible vocal range, she gained much more. Her highly stylized ads for Weight Watchers received a dizzying amount of airtime in 2010 and 2011, earning her a level of visibility few film roles or hit singles could provide.

I knew who Jennifer Hudson was from Dreamgirls and her family tragedy, but that was about it,” said Lisa Franklin, a 55-year-old teacher from Boston. “But after the Weight Watchers commercials, I really knew who she was, because those commercials came on six or eight times a day and she looked good.

That Franklin recognized Hudson only from those two life-altering events reveals how vital the Weight Watchers commercials have been in sustaining image in the public eye.

Another black female superstar who has boarded the weight loss-promotion train is Jackson. According to the DailyBeast, her promotion of Nutrisystem seems to be as much about career vitality as it is about health consciousness:

I was really surprised when I saw Janet Jackson doing a weight-loss commercial,” said Fred Mwangaguhunga, editor of the popular African-African entertainment website MediaTakeout.com. “I don’t think this is something she would have done five years ago, given her personality. But times have changed and the way you have to sell yourself has changed, so you use what you have.

Perhaps these weight loss commercials will help give black women the control needed to create their own narratives of African-American imagery and femininity for public discourse.

Free Crack Pipes Handed Out To Vancouver Drug Addicts (WTLC-AM Indianapolis)
Canada’s Vancouver Eastside, where drug dealing, prostitution, and homelessness reign supreme, is known as Vancouver’s “square mile of vice.” This area also houses the city’s sole residential black community, and 70 percent of its residents are aboriginal.A According to the UK’s Daily Mail , theA dumping ground for the city’s problems has now … (more)

* The feds are investigating allegations that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the subject of a multi-million-dollar blackmail scheme by a former 2001 campaign photographer who claims she was sexually assaulted by his consultant in front of former deputy mayor Ed Skyler, the New York Post says: http://nyp.st/v7zNd5

* Gov. Andrew Cuomos State of the State speech tomorrow will include a pledge to not raise taxes or fees (again) to close the estimated $2 billion state budget gap, the Posts Fred Dicker reports: http://nyp.st/uDGEUQ

* City hospitals are paying millions each year to continue treating patients well enough to be sent home but arent because they are illegal immigrants, lack insurance or appropriate housing, the New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/vxdIYe

* The growing number of residents who rely on food stamps is creating bureaucratic headaches and dangerous overcrowding at the citys job centers, the Wall Street Journal says: http://on.wsj.com/vk8hrS

* Ulster County Executive Mike Hein accused Bloomberg and the city Department of Environmental Preservation of polluting his countys waterways in their effort to transport clean drinking water from the Catskills region, the Daily News says: http://nydn.us/sOfeif

* An analysis found 324 bills of the 14,000 introduced in Albany each year were perennial, keeping the same titles and same sponsors since 1995, the Times-Union reports: http://bit.ly/rA3Yow